ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Finance
Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman concludes pre-Budget meetings for forthcoming Union Budget 2021-22
More than 170 invitees representing 9 stakeholder groups participated in 15 virtual meetings
Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the pre-budget consultation meetings for budget 2021-22 held in virtual mode from 14th to 23rd December, 2020.
More than 170 invitees representing 9 stakeholder groups participated in 15 meetings scheduled during this period. The stakeholder groups include, Financial and Capital Markets; Health, Education and Rural Development; Water and Sanitation; Trade Union and Labour Organization; Industry, Services and Trade; Infrastructure, Energy and Climate Change sector; Agriculture and Agro Processing Industry; Industrialists; and Economists.
Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Finance Secretary Dr A.B. Pandey; Secretary, DIPAM, Shri Tuhin Kanta Pandey; Secretary, Expenditure, Shri T.V. Somanathan; Secretary, DEA, Shri Tarun Bajaj; Chief Economic Advisor Shri Krishnamurthy Subramanian and senior officers from Ministry of Finance and other Ministries also participated in the meeting.
The stakeholder groups made several suggestions on various subjects that included Fiscal Policy, including Taxation; Bond Markets; Insurance; Infrastructure Spending; Health and Education Budget; Social Protection; Skilling; Water Harvesting and Conservation; Sanitation; MGNREGA; Public Distribution System; Ease of Doing Business; Production Linked Investment scheme, Exports; Branding of ‘Made in India’ products, Public Sector Delivery Mechanisms; Innovation, Green Growth; Non-Polluting sources of Energy and Vehicles, among others.
The participants lauded government’s efforts to flatten the COVID-19 curve and a strong recovery in economic growth in the second quarter of 2020-21. They further stated that India is among very few countries whose economic activity has risen with declining pandemic induced fatalities.
Finance Minister Smt. Sitharaman thanked the participants for sharing their valuable suggestions assuring that all suggestions will be carefully considered while preparing the Budget 2021-22.
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
Sadanand Kumar credits SAI NCOE coach with calming his nerves ahead of record run
Sadanand Kumar has had an interesting journey from Chandol Barkagaon village in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh district to becoming a repeat winner of the men’s 100m crown in the Khelo India Youth Games at the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex here on Tuesday. He bested the National Junior record with a time of 10.63 seconds.
Born 25km south-west of Hazaribagh, over the past two years he has been training in the Sports Authority of India’s National Centre of Excellence in Kolkata. Sadanand Kumar, who will turn 19 on October 5, has not known his father – Vijay Razwar passed before he was born – but he is sure of making his mother proud with his exploits on the track.
He was spotted at a school meet where he won a sprint race. A goodly physical education teacher Sriranjan Singh encouraged him to pursue sport. The Jharkhand State Sports Promotion Society picked him up to join an academy in Hotwar. And, in 2016, he was represented Hazaribagh district in the National Inter-District Junior Athletics Meet in Visakhapatnam.
The victory in the Khelo India Youth Games in Guwahati was a turning point. He had clocked 10.98 in heats and claimed gold in 10.95 seconds in the final. That prompted Sports Authority of India’s talent scouts to encourage him to join the SAI National Centre of Excellence  in Kolkata.
“I cannot have asked for a better location that the SAI NCOE in Kolkata to take my career forward. I have all that an athlete can ask for to train well without worrying about anything,” he said. “We have a good sports science back up too to enable the right kind of training, including recovery so that athletes get back to the track feeling fresh each time.”
On Tuesday, Sadanand Kumar was apprehensive after the heats as he clocked 10.90 seconds. He was worried that like in the Federation Cup U20 Championships in Nadiad, Gujarat, last week, he would clock a slower time in the final. “It was hard to ignore the fact that I had clocked 10.78 seconds in the heats, 10.84 in the semifinals and 10.89 in the final in Nadiad,” he said. “Besides, I was unsure of some of the new athletes here,” Sadanand Kumar said. It was a call to SAI coach Sanjay Ghosh that calmed his nerves. The coach reminded him of his pacy repetitions in training, guided him through a meditation session and got him to replay images of his win in Guwahati. “That conversation helped boost my confidence,” he said.
“I realised that practice is harder than a competitive race. And I told myself to not feel pressure any more by thinking it was a training run,” he said. And having shaved off 0.15 seconds from his previous personal best time to win Khelo India Youth Games 100m title again, he is now confident that he can get better by training right.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
India’s Cumulative COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage exceeds 193.45 Cr
Over 3.39 Cr 1st dose vaccines administered for age group 12-14 years
India's Active caseload currently stands at 17,883
2,338 new cases reported in the last 24 hours
Recovery Rate currently stands at 98.74%
Weekly Positivity Rate is presently at 0.61%
India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 193.45 Cr  as per provisional reports till 7 am today. This has been achieved through 2,45,38,123 sessions.
COVID-19 vaccination for the age group 12-14 years was started on 16 March, 2022. So far, more than 3.39 Cr  adolescents have been administered with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Similarly, the COVID-19 precaution dose administration for age group 18-59 years also started from 10th April, 2022 onwards.
The break-up of the cumulative figure as per the provisional report till 7 am today include:
|
|
Cumulative Vaccine Dose Coverage
|
|
HCWs
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
1,04,06,971
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
1,00,40,156
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
52,24,186
|
|
FLWs
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
1,84,19,230
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
1,75,84,337
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
87,28,754
|
|
Age Group 12-14 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
3,39,15,068
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
1,63,67,244
|
|
Age Group 15-18 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
5,94,73,034
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
4,57,29,616
|
|
Age Group 18-44 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
55,71,50,684
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
49,00,80,242
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
8,76,672
|
|
Age Group 45-59 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
20,32,50,201
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
19,08,64,226
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
14,01,340
|
|
Over 60 years
|
|
1st Dose
|
|
12,70,90,018
|
|
2nd Dose
|
|
11,90,44,191
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
1,88,73,635
|
|
Precaution Dose
|
|
3,51,04,587
|
|
Total
|
|
1,93,45,19,805
India’s Active Caseload currently stands at 17,883. Active cases now constitute 0.04% of the country's total Positive Cases.
Consequently, India’s recovery rate stands at 98.74%. 2,134 patients have recovered in the last 24 hours and the cumulative tally of recovered patients  is now at 4,26,15,574.
2,338 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours.
The last 24 hours saw a total of 3,63,883 COVID-19 tests being conducted. India has so far conducted over 85.04 Cr  cumulative tests.
Weekly Positivity Rate in the country currently stands at 0.61% and the Daily Positivity rate is reported to be 0.64%.
Department of Atomic Energy
A mega national event named SHAKTI-2023 at IGCAR, Kalpakkam
A mega national event named SHAKTI-2023  was organized by Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air conditioning Engineers, Kalpakkam Chapter and Indian Women Scientists’s Association , Kalpakkam Branch in association with Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam on 26th September 2023 at IGCAR, Kalpakkam, under the theme on “Women in Technological Advances and Social Upliftment”.
Dr. B. Venkatraman, Distinguished Scientist and Director, IGCAR presided over the function. In his presidential address he emphasized on achieving cleaner India by fruitful collaboration among forums of scientists, engineers and academia towards the research and development of green technologies.
Shri Yogesh Thakkar, National president ISHRAE, in his address mentioned about ISHRAE’s contribution in achieving net zero emission by 2070 through decarbonisation.
Dr. K. Rajalakshmi Menon, Distinguished Scientist & Director, Centre for Air Borne Systems, DRDO inaugurated the function. In her inaugural address she highlighted the indigenous development of Airborne Surveillance Systems and implementation of efficient thermal management.
Dr.Kalpana Balakrishnan, Dean , Dept. of Environmental Health Engineering, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, in her keynote address stressed upon the importance of monitoring and controlling household air pollution in rural India and its mitigation.
Dr. Jayanthasri Balakrishnan, Motivational speaker and Scholar from Coimbatore, in her special address pointed out the duty of empowered women to conduct the outreach programs to pave a way for social upliftment.
SHAKTI-2023 has been a great event with participation of 300 delegates.
Ministry of Railways
Negligible or Minimal Impact on train operations during “Rail Roko” Protest by Farmers Organisation
Less than 0.3 %  of total average number of trains running were impacted
Only 30 trains were affected in some of the Zonal Railways for a limited period of time
The rail roko agitation passed off without any untoward incident
(The nation-wide “Rail Roko” called by some farmers’ organisations on 18.02.2021 had minimal or negligible impact on train operations.
In all 30 Mail trains were affected out of total 12800 trains run by Indian Railways . Several other trains were able to make up time, some of the long distance trains which were yet to reach destination were expected to make up time further.
Suburban services in Mumbai in the State of Maharashtra were not affected by the Rail Roko Agitation. Freight trains and freight revenue were also not affected.
The Rail Roko agitation passed off without any untoward incident. Train Movement in all the zones was smooth after the agitation. Majority of the zones did not report a single case of any stoppage of train by the agitators.
While dealing with the Rail Roko agitation, utmost patience was exercised by all concerned. As reported by some of the Zonal Railways, the Rail Roko Agitation was not done primarily by the farmers like in the State of West Bengal, agitation was called by a political party to highlight the local incident of custodial death of a DYFI student in Kolkata. It was also reported by Zonal Railways that at several places leaders and activists of political parties were taking part along with their supporters. This was also confirmed by visuals received from Zonal Railways.
President's Secretariat
President of India inaugurates Global Clubfoot Conference
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated the Global Clubfoot Conference being organised by the CURE India in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, in New Delhi today .
Speaking on the occasion, the President said that clubfoot is one of the most common orthopaedic birth defects. It can cause permanent disability if not treated early. This affects the child’s mobility and confidence. Inevitably, education and schooling suffer – and the child cannot fulfil his or her potential.
The President said that in India the burden of disability affects more than 10 million people. The differently-abled or Divyang as we call them deserve equal opportunities in all avenues of life. Mainstreaming their social and professional experience is a commitment for all of us. Having said that, many of these disabilities are preventable or curable – which is often forgotten. Prevention, treatment and mainstreaming have to go in parallel.
The President said India is proud to have eradicated new cases of poliomyelitis. Polio was once a serious cause of loco-motor disability, but over the past six years we have not had a single case of paralytic poliomyelitis. This has been a major milestone in the history of public health not only in India but globally. It must motivate us to work towards eliminating other disabilities and other diseases and take on the challenge of clubfoot.
The President said he was happy to note that public hospitals are partnering with CURE International India to reach out to as many children as possible. The programme is now active in 29 states of India. He stated that despite these successes, we cannot ignore that at the current rate only 8,000 fresh cases are brought into the ambit of treatment every year. This is a small number if one considers the 50,000 children who are born annually in India with clubfoot. In 2022, India completes 75 years of its Independence. It should be a national resolve that by then every child born with clubfoot gets access to treatment services as soon as the condition is diagnosed.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
COVID-19 UPDATE
211.91 cr Total Vaccine doses  have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive
24,70,330 doses administered in last 24 hours
India's Active caseload currently stands at 84,931
Active cases stand at 0.19%
Recovery Rate currently at 98.62%
9,206 recoveries in the last 24 hours increases Total Recoveries to
4,38,02,993
7,591 new cases recorded in the last 24 hours
Daily positivity rate 
Weekly Positivity Rate 
88.52 cr Total Tests conducted so far; 1,65,751 tests conducted in the last 24 hours
Ministry of Women and Child Development
VACCINATION FACILITIES UNDER ICDS
The decision for reopening or not opening Anganwadi centres is taken by the State Govt on the direction of the State Disaster Management Authority.
Functioning of Anganwadi Centres during Covid-19 circumstances was permitted as per guidelines issued by Government on 15.04.2020 for distribution of food items and nutrition support by Anganwadi Workers, once in 15 days, at the doorstep of beneficiaries, i.e., children, women and lactating mothers to ensure continuous nutritional support. Besides medicines to be distributed as per requirement and special attention to be given to the timely medical interventions for SAM children. Further, steps have been taken to enable delivering of essential health services including vaccination services during the COVID 19 pandemic. States/ UTs have been guided for operationalization of immunization sessions at the Anganwadi Centres, ensuring compliance to all the necessary measures for prevention of COVID-19 infection.
Also, during Covid-19 period this Ministry has sought regular reports from States/UTs to ensure uninterrupted delivery of services to the beneficiaries.
Anganwadi Services have already been universalized and has expanded to cover all habitations across the country.
Anganwadi Services is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, implemented through State Governments/UT Administrations. Central Government prescribes the calorie and protein content of the food for SNP to be provided through the meal whereas the recipe/type of food to be included in SNP is decided by concerned States/UTs depending on local food and culturally appropriate habits
This information was given by the Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Finance
More than 29.8 lakh major Tax Audit Reports  filed on the e-Filing portal of the Income Tax Department
More than 29.8 lakh major Tax Audit Reports  have been filed on the e-Filing portal of the Income Tax Department as on 15th February, 2022. On the last day, over 4.14 lakh major Tax Audit Reports/forms have been filed.
Out of 29.8 lakh of the major statutory forms, over 2.65 lakh Form 3CA-3CD and around 24.5 lakh Form 3CB-3CD have been filed in FY 21-22. More than 2.71 lakh other Tax Audit Reports  have been filed till 15.02.2022.
On 15.02.2022, 34,842 Form 3CA-3CD , 3,36,842 Form 3CB-3CD , 18,644 Form 10B , 11,852 Form 29B , 478 Form 29C , 10,542 Form 3CEB , 873 of Form 10CCB  and 570 of Form 10BB  have been filed. On the last date i.e. the extended due date of 15.02.2022, 14% of these statutory forms and in the last 5 days from 11.02.2022 to 15.02.2022, 30% of these statutory forms were filed.
Further, more than 5.41 crore Income Tax Returns  filed have been verified out of 6.26 crore ITRs filed for AY 2021-22. Of the verified ITRs, more than 4.50 crore ITRs have been processed and 1.58 crore refunds for AY 2021-22 have been issued.
The Department expresses gratitude to all tax professionals and taxpayers for the support in compliances and requests the attention of taxpayers who are yet to accept the Tax Audit Report submitted by their CA to complete the process of submission.
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Department of Commerce notifies rules for Work from Home for Special Economic Zones
WFH allowed for a maximum period of one-year; may be extended to maximum 50% of total employees including contractual employees
Development Commissioners of SEZs empowered to extend it beyond one-year and for more than 50% of total employees
Notification provides a transition period of 90 days to SEZ units to seek approval, whose employees are already WFH
Notification, a boon to large number of IT/ITES employees working in SEZs; Addresses a long-pending demand of the industry;
The Department of Commerce has notified a new Rule, namely Rule 43A - Work from Home in Special Economic Zones Rules, 2006 across all Special Economic Zones. The notification was issued on demand from the industry for making a provision for a country wide uniform Work From Home  policy across all Special Economic Zones. The Department of Commerce thereafter held several rounds of discussions with various stakeholders before firming up the notification.
The notification under Rule 43A provides work from home for following category of employees of a unit in SEZ:
i. Employees of IT/ITeS SEZ units
ii.Employees, who are temporarily incapacitated
iii.Employees, who are travelling
iv.Employees, who are working offsite
As per the new notification, WFH may be extended to maximum 50% of total employees including contractual employees of the unit. There is flexibility granted to Development Commissioner  of SEZs to approve a higher number of employees  for any bona-fide reason to be recorded in writing.
Work From Home is now allowed for a maximum period of one-year. However, same may further be extended for a period of one year at a time by the DC on the request of units. In respect of SEZ units whose employees are already working from home, the notification has provided a transition period of 90 days to seek approval.
SEZ Units will provide equipment and secured connectivity for the purpose of WFH to perform authorized operations of the units and the permission to take out the equipment is co-terminus with the permission granted to an employee.
Prime Minister's Office
Ministerial delegation calls on Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on the sidelines of Raisina Dialogue
Ministerial level delegates from 12 countries called on Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi at his residence today, on the sidelines of Raisina Dialogue.
Mr. Edgars Rinkevics, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Mr. Abdulaziz Kamilov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan, Mr. Peter Szijjarto, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, Dr. Hamdullah Mohib, National Security Advisor of Afghanistan, Mr. Tomas Petricek, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czech Republic, Mr. Abdulla Shahid, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Maldives, Dr. Hasan Mahmud, Minister of Information of Bangladesh, Mr. Urmas Reinsalu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, Dr. Naledi Pandor, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, Mr. Jeppe Kofod, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Ms. Patricia Scotland, Secretary General of The Commonwealth, Mr. Vladimir Norov, Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, were the delegates who called on the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister welcomed the leaders to India and appreciated their participation at Raisina Dialogue 2020. The Prime Minister spoke about the large-scale efforts undertaken by the Government for rapid and inclusive socio-economic development and highlighted their significance for alleviating major global developmental challenges and attaining Sustainable Development Goals.
Ministry of Labour & Employment
Union Labour Ministry notifies amendment in EPF Scheme to allow withdrawal of non-refundable advance by EPF members in the event of outbreak of pandemic
EPFO directs its field offices to process claims promptly
Union Ministry of Labour and Employment has issued notification GSR 225 amending EPF Scheme 1952 to allow withdrawal of non-refundable advance by EPF members/subscribers in the wake of COVID -19 pandemic in the country. The notification permits withdrawal of upto the amount of basic wages and dearness allowance for three months or upto 75% of the amount standing to member's credit in the EPF account, whichever is less, in the event of outbreak of epidemic or pandemic.
COVID-19 has been declared pandemic by appropriate authorities for the entire country and therefore employees working in establishments and factories across entire India, who are members of the EPF Scheme, 1952 are eligible for the benefits of non-refundable advance. A sub-para under para 68L has been inserted in the EPF scheme,1952.The amended scheme Employees Provident Fund  scheme,2020 has come into force from 28 March,2020.
Following the notification, EPFO has issued directions to its field offices for promptly processing any applications received from EPF members to help them fight the situation. In its communication EPFO has stated that officers and staff must process claims of EPF subscribers promptly so that relief reaches the worker and his family to help them fight with COVID-19.
Ministry of Coal
Extension of Registration Date for Star Rating of Coal and Lignite Mines
In an effort to facilitate greater participation and ensure accurate self-evaluation, the Ministry of Coal has extended the last date for registration and self – evaluation for Star Rating of Coal and Lignite Mines from 15th July to 25th July 2023.
On May 30, 2023, a notification was issued for the registration of all Coal and Lignite Mines for the Star Rating of the financial year 2022-23. Following this, the Star Rating portal became accessible for registration from June 1, 2023 and the response has been encouraging. 377 mines already have registered on the portal as on 14th July 2023. However, to ensure maximum participation and provide an opportunity for more mines to register and complete the self-evaluation process, the Ministry of Coal has decided to extend the deadline.
The Ministry of Coal emphasizes the importance of Star Rating system in promoting sustainable mining practices and improving overall performance of Coal and Lignite mines. It also encourages all eligible mines to take advantage of extended registration period to showcase their commitment to environmental sustainability, safety and social responsibility.